Quieter Dust Collector?

[Mark J]

I have a Laguna 3HP P-Flux dust collector in my basement workshop.  Despite the added sound insulation of the P series, it is loud.  Working at the airport loud.  I always wear hearing protection when running it, which I can live with, but you hear this thing all over the house (even the second floor).  So I've been wondering if I could find something quieter.  

What is the quietest DC out there?  Oneida Supercell?

I'd be willing to step down the horsepower, indeed there would be advantages to 120V power over 240V.  Locating the DC outside the house, or even outside the workshop is not an option.  

Any thoughts?

[pkinneb]

I think if the unit and filter are in the space where you work its going to be too loud. I don't ever plan on moving but if I do I will have a have a separate soundproof room for the filter unit and the dust collector in the mean time my answer is more handtool work  

[wtnhighlander]

[BillyJack]

I’ve worked with a lot of dust collectors. There all loud..

[drzaius]

I built a dedicated room in the basement, adjacent to my garage shop for the DC and compressor. It is a room within a room framing with double 5/8" drywall & Greenglue on both sides, and rock wool insulation. If I'm standing more than a meter away from the door, I can't tell if the DC is running or not.

[Mark J]

My chief concern is not so much how loud it is in the shop, but how loud it is in the rest of the house (though the two are related).  I'm just hoping that there's some technology out there that performs with a little less noise, hence the question about the Supercell.

@drzaius (and others with DC "closets"), how did/do you manage air exchange?

[JohnG]

My understanding of the supercell is that it’s like a massive shopvac so I don’t think it would be much/any quieter.

[Don Z.]

Oneida has specs on their site.  The Supercell is one of the louder machines.  For example, the 3hp System V is rated at 74 dB.  The Supercell is rated at 80.

[legenddc]

I think I remember hearing (no pun intended) the Harvey dust collector was really quiet. Can't say how it compares to what you have now power wise.

[JohnG]

I have the Harvey G700. I had taken some db readings after I got it but will have to see if I can find them. I believe it was quieter than my 2hp HF unit. One thing I like about it is the variable speed. On lower settings it’s markedly quieter than my HF was. There are a couple speeds where it develops a higher frequency element to the sound, which is undesirable, but usually a slight adjustment up/down gets rid of it. 
I have a basement shop and it can be heard throughout the 1st floor when it is on, but it’s really just a low drone and hasn’t ever bothered my wife or kids, day or night. The HF didn’t bother them either. 
I’ve been happy with it. The shape/size works well with my shop but it’s a pretty big change from the “normal” form factor, so that does need to be considered. I can only compare its performance to the 2hp HF, but I’ve never had a “good” cyclone collector. 

[drzaius]

22 hours ago, Mark J said:

My chief concern is not so much how loud it is in the shop, but how loud it is in the rest of the house (though the two are related).  I'm just hoping that there's some technology out there that performs with a little less noise, hence the question about the Supercell.

@drzaius (and others with DC "closets"), how did/do you manage air exchange?

I have a 30" x 6" duct with a dog leg and elbow in it and lined with acoustic duct liner. 

[legenddc]

You didn’t mention how your basement is finished. Might want to look at putting the dust collector in a room with extra drywall/soundproofing. 

[Ronn W]

I have a 1 3/4 HP Laguna and I can cary on a converatino in the shop when it is running.  But this unit has limited abilites compared one with more HP.

[Chestnut]

I have a dust gorilla pro and it's pretty quiet. That said you can hear it around the house but it's more of a low rumble than loud and annoying. The loudest part of the collector is the air rushing in the open ports though the unit it's self is relatively quiet.

I don't think the supercell would be quieter than what you have. Maybe just a different pitch of sound. It's probably better to try and do some sound proofing as moving large quantities of air is going to produce noise, cause physics.

[Mark J]

I posted on a couple of forums with generally the same feedback, dust collectors suck, and they make a lot of noise doing it. As Don said, the Supercell is actually louder (but may be more effective).  So no magic solution.  I could go lower HP or build an enclosure.  Probably just continue putting up with it.

[gee-dub]

Obviously we would all like to have the DC outside the shop.  This was a game changer for me and worth the time and money.  I live in a moderate climate so I get to exhaust outside.  A bump-out or internal closet for the DC brings with it problems of make up air, return air, heat exchange and, so forth.  All I can say is that the shop is a journey.

[Ron Swanson Jr.]

On 8/11/2023 at 2:04 PM, Mark J said:

I have a Laguna 3HP P-Flux dust collector in my basement workshop.  Despite the added sound insulation of the P series, it is loud.  Working at the airport loud.  I always wear hearing protection when running it, which I can live with, but you hear this thing all over the house (even the second floor).  So I've been wondering if I could find something quieter.  

What is the quietest DC out there?  Oneida Supercell?

I'd be willing to step down the horsepower, indeed there would be advantages to 120V power over 240V.  Locating the DC outside the house, or even outside the workshop is not an option.  

Any thoughts?

If it's not too late to reply I'll throw in my two cents. I have Rocklers newish DC "Dust Right" 1250 CC. It's significantly quieter than the 2 smaller ones it replaced. 

Maybe go into a store if there's one accessible to you and see if it's any quieter than what you have now?